Current Issue August 2008

Christina Obergföll, Franka Dietzsch, Steffi Nerius, Betty Heidler and Petra Lammert represent Germany’s medal hopes in the 2008 Olympics track and field competitions. In the August issue of the personality magazine PARK AVENUE (out on 23 July), we get to see just how feminine these athletes are despite their muscles.

“It’s great that you’re showing us as ordinary women and not right at the moment of throw, when our faces are totally distorted and we appear to consist entirely of muscle.” That was how Franka Dietzsch (discus) felt about the photo session at which the athletes posed in tailor-made clothes designed by fashion students from Hamburg. Steffi Nerius (javelin), who came second in Athens, only feels really steady on her feet in trainers – “You’ll have to hold on to me, I can’t walk in high heels,” She even had to skip training the following day because her calf muscles were so stiff! Petra Lammert (shot put), who has been prevented by injury from competing in Beijing, also feels less than comfortable with styling and make-up, but is quite pragmatic about it. “It’ll all run anyway.” And although she feels fine about her body, world champion Betty Heidler (hammer) is still looking forward to being less muscular after she quits competitive sport – even if “modern throwers haven’t been mannish like they used to be for a long time”.

“They’re not actors, they’re photocopiers in human form.” Willem Dafoe doesn’t see himself as a Hollywood star

Hollywood stars? They’re the guys who are so expensive and important that “they have to bend the material to themselves.” Willem Defoe is the screen villain you long to kiss and then wipe your mouth afterwards. Playing alongside Julia Roberts in Fireflies in the Garden (opens in Germany on 7 August), he portrays an irascible family tyrant. The role is a typical one for Dafoe, the ultimate sleaze bag, the creepy, eternally grinning killer who makes your flesh crawl. In an interview with PARK AVENUE (out on 23 July), the media-shy actor who has made his home in Italy talks openly for once about the real Willem Dafoe. “Sometimes, I feel like I grew up without any kind of formative influence, as though I’d taught myself everything on my own.”